A 19-year-old girl named Riley Banks spoke to Mr. Saperstein’s Honors World History class and Mrs. Del Moro’s Journalism class on Wednesday, March 2nd, in the WHHS auditorium. Banks was introduced by WHHS freshman Erica Radler and Carol Ann Asante, who works for the Student and Youth Travel Association. The STYA provides scholarships for students to travel to less fortunate areas of the world and do charity work just like Riley did.  Carol Ann explained Riley’s experience of traveling to Kenya and how her travels are part of an amazing story that has changed her life for the better.

Banks was first introduced to the charity work in Kenya  by her aunt and uncle who had been helping in hospitals and schools in Kenya. After much talk with her parents, at 13-years old Banks set off for Africa with her father, aunt and uncle. After just one visit, Banks knew that that was where she needed to be.  Now, at age 19, she has already visited Kenya six times!

However, it wasn’t always easy for Banks. She recalled the first day of her first trip to Kenya to the group of students, “I was assigned to work in the Neonatal unit in the hospital that my Aunt and Uncle were volunteering in. Immediately, I was overwhelmed by my surroundings. When I went over to the baby I was assigned to her tub was covered in waste. I tried to get her to calm down so I could get a diaper on her but I wasn’t having any luck. When I looked around, all the other volunteers had already fed their babies and I felt behind. I then ran out of the room and fainted. My Aunt reassured me that the next day she would be by my side, helping me out the entire way. Needless to say, the second day went much better.”

Banks enjoyed her second week a lot more when she got the opportunity to help teach kids English although this wasn’t an easy task either. All of the kids had to share one small pencil, so she had to go around one at a time to help them spell words such as “ball” and “bear.” They didn’t have any school supplies and there was really nowhere they could go to buy them. There are no public schools in Kenya, so kids have to sacrifice everything to go to school and get an education.  It was tremendously difficult to communicate with anyone because very few people could speak the English language. It was after this experience that Banks decided she had to do something to make a change in the precious lives of these children.

Upon her return to United States,  Riley raised enough money to buy school supplies and hygiene products  for 200 kids. She has founded  the organization Generation Next  to raise awareness and gain more aid for those in Kenya.  Riley’s latest project, was to build a new school in Kenya. The school is named “Pamojo” which means ‘together’ in Swahili. Thanks to Riley, 40 children are allowed to attend school for free and are provided with one meal. “I went to college for a semester. I am encouraging you to go, but I am not going to college because I’ve already found my purpose,” said Banks.

After one semester of college, Banks was offered a book deal with a major publishing company. She decided to leave college and focus on her purpose: moving to Kenya with her fiance and developing both the school and community center she created. Her book, “Riley Unlikely” is scheduled to come out in September 2016 and focuses on her journey, not only in Kenya, but her overall life experience and how it changed her completely.    

“There were a lot of roadblocks along the way,” she explained that she was extremely shy throughout high school and visiting Kenya helped her come out of her shell. A roadblock she had slight trouble talking about was the fact that she got malaria and worms at the same time one summer she went. She also expressed that her shipments of school and hygiene supplies arrived on “Kenyan time” but in the end they were distributed on time. These “roadblocks” do not discourage Riley, but instead make her want to persevere even more.

Riley successfully made it her goal to encourage the audience and inform them about the happiness that ensues once a child is helped and given a proper education. She motivated individuals and brought everyone to the realization that even the smallest acts of kindness can cause such overwhelmingly positive impacts.

It costs roughly $2300 to travel to Kenya; including airfare, hotel expenses and food.

If you are interested in getting involved in Riley’s cause, you can visit generationnextcares.org.